Culture and tourism minister Margaret Hodge is in hot water after claiming that UK hotels are expensive and saying that she "worries about their quality".

In a interview with Which? Holiday magazine, the minister also called for visitor attractions to "raise their game" in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Hodge's comments drew incensed responses from leisure operators.

Guy Parsons, managing director of Travelodge, said: "Tourism must be seen as a leading contributor to UK plc, but Margaret Hodge seems intent on damaging the industry's reputation.

"Tourism will only be successful if outdated rhetoric, handed down from one tourism minister to the next, is replaced by government action on policies and desperately needed funding."

Hodge's comments came just weeks after she and the DCMS came under fire for finalising an 18 per cent cut in funding of VisitBritain, the agency responsible for marketing UK abroad to inbound tourists.